Mulberry fruit extract improves insulin sensitivity

The fruit of the white mulberry tree (Morus alba) is prescribed as an antidiabetic by traditional Chinese medicine. Korean researchers tested its ability to improve insulin sensitivity and correct hyperglycemia in a mouse model of Type 2 diabetes.

The study received support from Silla University. Its findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

The mice model consisted of a control group, a rosiglitazone treatment group, and a mulberry fruit extract group. The animals were evaluated in terms of blood sugar, plasma insulin, and intraperitoneal glucose levels.

Mice that received fruit extract displayed much lower levels of blood sugar than the ones in the untreated control group. Their average blood sugar levels were also greatly reduced.

Their sensitivity to insulin also increased, according to the results of glucose and insulin tolerance tests. The extract-supplemented mice showed a much lower homeostatic index of insulin resistance compared to untreated animals.

Mulberry fruit extract greatly increased the concentration of pAMPK and pAS160. It also increased the amount of plasma membrane-glucose transporter 5 in skeletal muscles, facilitating the easier movement of glucose to those muscles.

The consumption of the fruit extract raised pAMPK in the liver. At the same time, they lowered the amount of glucose 6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in that organ, which in turn inhibits the production of glucose from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates.

The outcome indicated that white mulberry fruit achieved its antidiabetic effect by triggering the AMPK enzyme and AS160 protein in skeletal muscles while also preventing gluconeogenesis from taking place in the liver.